Dana White is the hearthstone of the UFC we know today. Buit things were not always like this.
The UFC is a multi-million dollar franchise and the face of MMA all over the world. It has done business all over the world and brought together a world of MMA fighters and fans. Before the company rose to prominence, they were little more than street rumors and shuttered garage brawls.
Last year was one of the biggest years for the company, financially speaking. It generated $1.1 billion in revenue which is 16 percent above revenue returns in 2020. However, the prospects were not so rosy for the company merely 2 decades ago. Back then, UFC was a dying brand with no takers for its franchise and a host of legal problems.
Back in the late 90s, the UFC came under fire from no other than 2008 US Presidential candidate and republican senator Sen. John McCain. Sen. McCain called the UFC ‘human cockfighting’.
The UFC got this spotlight for its rapid rise to prominence as it advertised itself as hosting ‘no rules’. As a result of McCain’s campaign, the UFC was banned in 36 US states and most cable providers pulled their pay-per-views. That was before UFC president Dana White stepped into the proverbial octagon.
The Real (Walter) White
Dana White and his company Dana White Enterprises stepped into the fray just as the UFC was on its last leg. At the time, White was an amateur boxer and managed several fighters including future UFC champions Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.
He liaised with former Nevada state athletic commissioner, Lorenzo Fertitta and his brother Frank. The Fertitta brother founded Zuffa LLC and purchased the UFC for the bargain price of $2 million in 2001. On February 23, 2001, Zuffa held its first event, UFC 30 free of the trappings that had kept its brand down.
The Fertitta brothers and White are most often credited with bringing legitimacy to MMA as a sport. While this is true, before they stepped on the UFC train, the previous owners had laid down some minor but game-changing groundwork.
They introduced what is now known as the ‘Unified Rules’ of MMA and got it sanctioned as a sport in several states namely New Jersey, Mississippi, and California. With Lorenzo Fertitta on board, they could finally make a pitch to the Nevada State Athletic Commission and found their way to the betting center of the world in Las Vegas.
A New Age for MMA
Under the Fertitta brothers and Dana White’s direction, Zuffa put in as much as $44 million into the company. This helped them coast through a period of volatile but rapid growth before they finally made land with a 2005 deal with Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighter reality show. White also brought NSAC executive Marc Ratner onboard in 2006 to define their regulatory efforts.
This gradually led to the sport getting recognition and state sanction in every union state. A rapidly growing roster of fighters from all over the world also meant that the UFC could secure sanctions in venues outside the US. These included countries like Brazil, the UK, Canada, and Poland which continue to supply the UFC with championship-tier fighters.
The UFC was also the first company to introduce weight classes in MMA including additional ones. Under Dana White, the company worked to get signed network television broadcast deals, promoted female divisions and greatly enhanced the fighter’s injury insurance.
They also brought in year-round USADA drug testing while making MMA accessible to everyone around the world.
All these landmark successes made UFC a cash cow in the making that is minting money like no other in today’s time. From Zuffa’s $4.6 million in revenues from 5 shows in New Jersey and Nevada in 2001 to $608 million from 41 events in 11 different countries in 2015 – the UFC is a different beast altogether now.
Suffice it to say, Dana White has been a major force behind the rise of UFC and MMA in the world. His success story is marked by prodigious planning, maverick-like risk-taking and a penchant for knowing what the market wants. So, when Joe Rogan says if White goes from the UFC, he will go to, we can understand why that is the case.
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